Larry and Gail Berkove with their four Israeli grandsons.

Whe Is

M als 0

Kosher service

Teens engage in

"Name That Faith"

a

activity

I

Interfaith program brings teens
together to share faith backgrounds.

A

Jew,

a

Muslim and

a

...

synagogue,mosque,gurd­
temple or church. But not a
bar, and this isn't the beginning of
a joke. It's the result of the efforts of

wara,

Bloomfield Hills student named

Josh Morof, who wanted

circle of friends and

to widen his

Synagogue in Farmington

Hills, participants gathered for

worked with WISDOM

some

75

high

West Bloomfield

school students

a

the

Jewish Community

Center to hear from

and

at

Presbyterian

imam, a rabbi
minister about the

an

Abrahamic faiths, followed by a panel
of Muslim, Jewish and Christian teens.

This

was

the kickoff for

a

general

on

traditional Jewish dessert) and listened
to Rabbi Aaron Bergman speak about

of the basic tenets of Judaism.

Bergman explained

vices, saying the

occur on

the

the

same

daily
readings

ser­

Torah

same

day

in synagogues

around the world. He also

explained

that in his synagogue, men and
women are treated equally and that

lead the

to Faith events is the Teen Forum at the

dents from Metro Detroit

a

together
religions.
Having fun, learning and creating
opportunities for dialogue, the group
has participated in making and break­
ing bread together, team-building
exercises, learning sessions, games and
dialogue as ways to break down myths

to

learn about diverse

and stereotypes and increase respect
and understanding.

Over the last three years, 50 to 75
gathered at various houses

teens have

of worship to learn about different

faiths and to discuss their

common­

alities.

Leadership

•

chance

to

ask

questions about their faiths,
covering topics like the hijab that some

Muslim

women wear,

meaning

an

baptism and the

of a bar mitzvah.

Face to Faith

event at St.

its

with

began
Mary's Antiochian

season

December. The

gathering will
Synagogue in West
Bloomfield on Thursday, Feb. 5. Other

next

be at Shir Shalom

will be at the Muslim

upcoming
Unity Center in Bloomfield Hills and
at Song and Spirit Institute for Peace.
If you are interested in attending

events

Face to Faith event, visit the IFLC

•

2015

to

register or contact Meredith

Skowronski at Meredith.skowronski@

gmaiLcom.

D

in

75,
said program coordinator Rick Emmer

of Bloomfield Township. He says the
decline is due mostly to the increase in

senior

apartment facilities that provide

meals.

Generally, MOW clients are over age

60; a handful are younger, but have dis­
abilities. that limit their ability to handle

meal preparation.

Most clients

get lunch and dinner

delivered every weekday by a

crew

volunteer drivers. The

and she didn't want

includes food for the weekend. Some

-

come

and

doesn't cook. The

for her.

care

couple

ask

to

Larry

relied on

Friday delivery

choose to get only one meal or to skip
some of the days, Emmer said. Because

friends, who plied them with food.
"But here came Pesach,' Berkove said.

the portions

"My friends were tied up with their
own Passover preparation:' she said.

them.

"How could I ask them to

$50, but the fee .can be adjusted for

my kitchen,
forme?"

come

clean

change my dishes and cook

Kosher Meals

couples

generous, some
request only one meal between

A full week of Meals

Wheels

would have

Wheels

came

thought of Meals

Foundation, NCJW/GDS and private

tion:'

Life's Prentis

on a

Two friends, Alicia Nelson,

a

volunteer, and

MOW

social

Phyllis Schwartz,
worker, suggested she apply. She called
Jewish Family Service (JFS), which

a

handles intake for MOW

JFS staff member visited the

as soon as

an

so

did

and,

daily

where volunteers

only for the eight
of
but
that
days Pesach,
jump-started
me:' Berkove said. After the holiday, she

resume

food preparation

herself.

Drivers

for clients in the Oak Park-Southfield

area pick up their
packages at Prentis.
Meals for clients in the Farmington

a

distribution

point near

14 Mile and

Northwestern for drivers to

vate homes or

pick up.

for

some

residents of the Prentis and

nearby Teitel apartments, who receive
dinner five days a week but not lunch.

To

Jewish Detroiters are aware of

Kosher Meals on Wheels, a program of
the National Council of Jewish Women,

Greater Detroit Section

pri­

apartments, MOW serves

nursing home residents who want kosher
food. The program also provides lunches

Helpful Service

Most

gather every weekday

morning to pack the meals.

In addition to clients who live in

"We got the meals

able to

Jewish Senior
Apartments in Oak Park,

Hills- West Bloomfield area are taken to

assessment

Passover started,

MOW is based at

meal delivery.

was

Wheels costs

supported by the U.S. federal
government through the Area Agency on
Aging 1- B, by the DeRoy Testamentary

to

(MOW)
temporary
basis:' she said. "It was the perfect solu­

A

on

clients who can't afford that much. The

donors.

on

are so

program is

on

rescue.

never

of

Israel, Pennsylvania and

Berkoves' home to do

Orthodox Church in Livonia in

com

Oak Park has assumed coordination

January 29

a

website www.detroitinterfaithcouncil.

Council of Metropolitan Detroit in

22

circle and have

gather

in

each other

a

New Coordinator
This year, the Interfaith

large

evening.

The teens

Chicago

"I

program
called Face to Faith, created as a pro­
ductive way to bring high school stu­

end of the

-

Berkove's

any knowledgeable person
religious services.
Participants say the highlight of Face

can

town

them to

kosher Jerusalem
Pizza and seven -layer cake (a Detroit

and

Dialogue
to bring

some

about their interests. The

participating
panel of Chaldean and Jewish youth,
Morof, then a junior, was inspired to
expand the interfaith dialogue. He

Detroit)

by stating

and their faith traditions

names

teens then dined

Outreach in Metro

Larry, a

adult children but they all live out of

questions

(Women's

Berkove and her husband,

themselves to each other

grounds.

Interfaith Solutions for

brief

a

retired English professor, have three

and "broke the ice" with

on a

ents. The number is now about

major

surgery last

mixer in which the teens introduced

to include those of many faith back­

In 2011, after

Coming

home after

and stagger to the couch:'

continuation of its

following an illness, acci­

surgery.

at its

Adat Shalom

as a

or

The program started in 1973 and,
peak, served more than 200 cli­

Writer

Contributing

Religious Diversity Journeys for sev­
enth graders.
At a typical Face to Faith event at

their

understanding

dent

Barbara Lewis

February, Gail
Berkove was unpleasantly
surprised.
"I was totally unprepared for how little
energy I had:' said Berkove, a psycholo­
gist who lives in Southfield. "I barely had
enough energy to get up, brush my teeth

of the program

a

Christian walk into

short time

a

Face To Faith

together

help those

needing temporary assistance.

in 2011.

one

can

in 2012. Face to Faith started

inquire about Kosher Meals on

Wheels service, on a temporary or ongo­
ing basis, call Jewish Family Service at

(248)

592-2313. Additional volunteers

but few know the service is available for

pack and deliver meals are always
welcome. To sign up, call Rick Emmer at

people like Berkove, who need it for just

(248)

(NCJW/GDS),

to

967-0967.

D